Jindal elected Governor strangely sparks off celebrations in India
Moving away, to look at Bobby Jindal’s election as a vindication of Indian-Americans is mostly bunkum. Of course, he looks brown and in a state where racism still runs deep (remember last week’s story – Jena Six), this is a major event. Bobby Jindal’s stand on certain social issues are particularly disturbing. He converted to Christianity as a teenager and although I am not against conversions per se, the indication that he did so for political reasons are pretty strong (Louisiana may vote for a brown man but definitely not for a non-Christian). I’m sure if he could change his color just like his religion, he wouldn’t think twice. He takes assimilation into the American way a bit too far by pandering to the worst in this society but paying mere lip service to the real spirit that this country embodies.
Bobby Jindal is a staunch conservative Republican. He has stated that he is “100% against abortion, no exceptions.” By no exceptions, he even stands apart from some of his fellow Republicans by supporting an abortion ban without taking into consideration exceptions for the life of the woman, the health of the woman, rape, or incest. He values the life of an unborn fetus over the life of its much-living mother. He is light on gun control and even garners an ‘A’ Rating from the Gun Owners of America. He is for offshore oil and natural gas drilling which prompted his own party’s environmental watchdog to given him demerits. Further, he believes in teaching of intelligent design in schools and doesn’t support hate crime legislation. All these positions hardly make him to be a worthy political candidate in my mind be it white, black, or brown. By not supporting the hate crime legislation, he simply doesn’t understand the sentiments of his fellow brown countrymen who have faced unmitigated and verbalized racist actions. Manish at Ultra Brown rightly identifies him as a “brown Mitt Romney”, ever willing to pander to the regressive wing of the Right.
As far as his foreign policy goes, he is a staunch supporter of Bush’s Iraq War and had even raised an ink-stained finger after elections in Iraq that sought to usher in democracy. The democracy in Iraq faded far faster than the ink on his finger and I’m sure he hasn’t wisened up to that mistake either. If India indeed wants to claim him as one of their own, it should examine if he has had any policy positions in favor of India be it in regards to defense or trade.
While Jindal expresses any pro-India sentiments or not, the Indian media is quick to latch on to any successes enjoyed by individuals with a remote connection to India. I find this exceedingly frustrating and as our (Ex-) Lord of the Blogosphere has repeatedly said, this would happen only in the “land of pygmies.” The very fact that an individual has succeeded outside its shores is not a matter of pride but in fact would be otherwise unless of course, his conception on this soil somehow imbibed some magic qualities in him. Now if some foreigner not born in India would move here and find unprecedented success not likely in their home country, would they still be celebrated as a moment of pride in India. In fact, we have one such individual (not necessarily through merit).
“Jindal elected Governor strangely sparks off celebrations in India” [Short URL: http://www.ipatrix.com/?p=2226] was published Sunday, October 21st, 2007 at 12:27 pm by Patrix, filed under Current Affairs, India, Media, Politicking, United States, and tagged as conservative, elections, India, United States. Both comments and linkbacks are closed.
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The Indian media is quite pathetic and does an overtly excellent job of project Indians as gora ass lickers. Sad, but true.
I have no idea why this idiot has garnered this attenton; but then when you have “gujarat ki beti” (never mind that beti has abandoned her “maika” for almost 2 decades) take so much importance, its hardly a surprise.
Indian media lacks self respect. And that is why I hate them thoroughly.
S
2 years ago replyAmazing articulation! Could not have put it better.Surely we are a land of pygmies – in thoughts and in deeds!
2 years ago replyYeah, whats new?
See this,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Columnists/Indias_Nobel_connections/articleshow/2456211.cms
2 years ago replyGood analysis. I wouldn’t care if Jindal was from Sadashiv Peth in Pune, and only care about his ridiculous ultraconservative views. I am sure Indian newspapers would laud any Indian here, even some bigot becoming Bush’s white house chief of staff.
2 years ago replySupremus, I swear! Sometimes I get frustrated with this blind copying of the Western media but unfortunately we just pick up the things that I hate about the Western media too.
Vishal, each time we get a chance to redeem ourselves, we blow it.
Confused, yup! Had seen that before…right after this year’s Nobel. Frankly, that was much insulting to the few Indians who have actually won it fair and square. Sadly, none in the recent times.
Ashutosh, yup! All that seems to matter is that he looks and sounds Indian.
2 years ago replyGood for Bobby!
2 years ago replyYet another debunk for the “Republicans are racist rednecks” myth perpetuated by the MSM.
Gun control is a civil right infringement.
Killing babies is murder.
It is sad as to how insecure the Indian media is about the Indian identity. We have ‘arrived’ and are shining because descendants of those who left the country decades ago are doing well in Britain and America (read the @”white anglo saxon’ world.
2 years ago replyIf the Bobby Jindal had been elected President of Guyana – we wouldn’t have had this kind of coverage….
Vinay, thanks for the amusement.
Harini, Being a part of that media must give you an insight into what goes on behind the scenes but I agree that the need to track its immigrants to select nations and then claim their achievements is downright unfair.
2 years ago replyAbout Bobby very well written!
2 years ago replyAs for the Indian media the less said the better.
Yes pointing and laughing is a common defence mechanism against opinions that one is uncomfortable with.
Here is another – shutting ones eyes and ears and going la-la-la-la-la.
Another is to the take the least common denominator of the opposition and impute those values on to the whole.
“Open-mindedness” is hard work.
All that aside. I agree with the post as far as the blind media celebration of PIO success is concerned.
Beyond that comments such as “ever willing to pander to the regressive wing of the Right” is just basic name-calling and detracts from any point you were trying to make.
And a link to an article that calls him a “brown Mitt Romney”? Pathetic.
Jindal won not because he is “ever willing to pander to the regressive wing of the Right” or because he “takes assimilation into the American way a bit too far by pandering to the worst in this society”.
2 years ago replyHave you considered it had to do with the work he put in post-Katrina? And utter disappointment in the incompetent, “blame evil Bush” Democrat administration they had through Katrina?
Vinay, again it is quite funny to see you associate “open-mindedness” with Bobby Jindal and his conservative ilk. Conservatives will accept you only if you become more like them and not if you maintain your unique identity.
Regards your reasons for his win, nothing is further from the truth. He scarcely mentioned Katrina & Rita during his campaign and has only lately mentioned rehabilitation for hurricane victims as an afterthought. Also, the voter turnout was quite low especially among low-income African Americans who traditionally vote Democrat.
2 years ago replyThe “open-mindedness” comment was not regarding Bobby Jindal. I haven’t verified his ’100% against abortion’ statement but I take your word for it.
That statement is not open-minded but is absolutist. No doubt.
My “open-mindedness” comment was regards to you finding my initial comment “amusing”. I construed that as a close-minded defence mechanism to opposing points of view. Rightly or wrongly.
At the end of the day defining every issue as a “conservative” versus “liberal” dulls discourse. There is plenty on the “conservative” side to admire and plenty to be very wary of. Similarly on the “liberal” side. To cherry-pick Jindal’s statements and then impute that to everything he stands for is intellectually lazy.
Now spare yourself the effort of saying something like “I find it amusing that you would make the cherry-picking comment because conservatives do the same thing”.
Yes I know. And its a common human failing – one that is common on both sides of the “conservative-liberal” divide.
It is the spectrum ranging from socialist totalitarianism to fascist totalitarianism on the other side. Assuming someone to the right of you on the spectrum is a fascist is as absurd and assuming someone to the left of you is a communist.
My positions on gun control is based on the fact that it does not work. It disarms the law-abiding and leaves them vulnerable to the criminal. Does that mean we should let just any mentally and/or morally incompetent person have guns? No.
I am against complete free choice on abortion because it is murder of the most vulnerable members of humankind.
2 years ago replyDoes that mean I we need to risk an adult’s life for the baby in case of a medical condition? No.
Vinay, my ‘amusing’ comment was toward your ‘killing babies is murder’. That came completely out of the blue. I understand that abortion like any social issue has its shades of grey and no one loves to abort fetuses. But that’s a separate topic.
I do agree on your characterization of issues not being completely liberal or conservative. I myself am a centrist. This post and subsequent comments were aimed at Jindal’s positions and the Indian media’s attention on him.
2 years ago reply